#“we can't risk hitting the dragon”

[memoriamp4]

Hiccup Haddock and Owen Grady with their reptiles

[paulyenvol6]

Acting Out Of Love

Based on this request

Your husband Daemon and you have an ugly fight after which you don't speak to each other. Your children are quick to notice it though and come up with a plan to make you reconcile.

I loved this request and I had so so much fun writing this so thank you very much <3 Also, please feel free to send me your requests and tell me what you would like me to write

Contains: angst, fighting, fluff

Wordcount: ~5.67k

Masterlist

You had your lips pressed together and head turned away.

Your hand gripped the edge of the table tightly, anger controlling your senses and you felt so heated that you just wished for a cold rain soaking your body.

"I said no, Daemon.", you hissed at him.

Your husband had his eyes closed as if he tried to calm himself but it clearly didn't worked because he pushed himself away from the wall against which he had rested and restlessly walked back and forth.

"And I'm asking you once again, why?! Why, y/n?"

You exhaled loudly and threw your hands in the air. "Because she is too young. I can't believe I even have to discuss this with you. Visenya is 8 years old. Not old enough to climb on a dragon on her own. She can fly with you but she is not going to take off with Sirmai alone."

He rolled his eyes. "Gods be good, y/n! Our daughter is made of fire. She belongs on that dragonback. It's where she is alive."

You laughed out madly and approached him with quick steps.

"Yes. I want her to be alive. And if she is on that dragon alone nothing can assure me that she'll get back on the ground alive."

Daemon shook his head and lowered his head. "Visenya claimed Sirmai, she is not going to get her in danger."

"But she is eight, Daemon! Saena was 10 when we first let her fly on Cloudchaser and Wyllam as well."

Your husband raised his chin and defiantly chewed on his buttom lip. "Visenya is tough. And she wants it too."

You threw your head back. "This is so stupid, Daemon. I said no. I'm her mother and I'm not going to risk my daughter's life because you act irresponsible and emotional and without reason."

"Oh so I'm the bad father now, is that what you're trying to say?"

You crossed your arms in front of your chest.

"No, but it in this case, yes. You're putting your honor as a Targaryen and as a dragonrider above Visenya's well-being."

Now it was Daemon who laughed and rubbed his tired eyes. "I can't believe you just said that…" He abruptly turned around and lifted his finger to point at you.

"I love our daughter as much as a father can love his child. But she is ready and maybe you can't see that but I can. I'm telling you, we should allow her to mount Sirmai."

You shook your head, trying to make your expression look as cold as possible. "No, Daemon. I will not allow it and so it's not going to happen."

He exhaled loudly and shook his head in disbelief.

"And I can't believe you are always coming up with that 'she's meant for it as a Targaryen'. Yes, the blood of the dragon runs in her veins but that doesn't mean that you can use that fact as a justification. She is still my daughter and as much as I respect Targaryen tradition, she is still half dornish and sometimes I have the feeling that you think of your side as superior and more distinctive."

He turned to walk away from you. "This is stupid…"

You glared at him and narrowed your eyes. "No it's not, Daemon."

"It is and I have no desire to listen to any more of your childish outbursts. I'm going to bed now."

You watched him with flashing eyes as he hasted through your chambers but before he passed you you held out your arm to stop him. Your head hit his chest and his eyes shot down to meet yours.

"You will not sleep in here tonight.", you whispered dangerously and Daemon frowned.

"You're not being serious, are you?" But you remained persistend and gestured to the door.

"I am. I don't want you in here."

He grinded his teeth and his eyes twinkled and yet he did as you had demanded and was quick to leave your chambers.

Once he was outside you inhaled deeply and sat down on a chair. You closed your eyes in a desperate attempt to make your boiling blood calm down but it took you some time until you opened them and you were able to think normally again.

~~~~~~~~~~

You saw your husband again the next day for breakfast. Your children were playing by the fire surrounded by maids and servants and septas and when you entered Daemon was just reading a piece of parchment but lowered it when he saw you.

You on the other hand completely ignored him and didn't look at him for a mere second. You had decided to give him the silent treatment and just act like he wasn't there. So instead of giving him a morning kiss like you usually would have done you walked to your children and caressed your daughter Saena's dark hair.

Your children were a mixture of your husband's and your features. While Visenya, Wyllam and Meradith came more after Daemon and his Targaryen looks, your eldest daughter Saena and Orlyn had your thick brown hair and darker eyes and skin as their siblings. Meralith on the other hand was the pure image of her father. Silver straight hair, light eyes and the only difference to Daemon was her darker tan. The girl would soon turn 6 and you lovingly watched your children while ignoring your husband's presence.

Orlyn, your youngest just brought you a little dragon that his uncle had gifted him for his name day and pulled it through the air.

"I called him Aero, mother. And when I have my dragon one day I'll call him Aero too."

You smiled softly and caressed your son's shoulder. "That's a name fit for a fierce dragon, my darling."

Your son smiled contendly and babbled something while shifting his attention to his toy again. You straightened up again now and walked towards the breakfast table, still not giving a glance at Daemon. He on the other hand watched your every move but when he realized what it was you were doing he lowered his head as well and folded his hands in front of him.

He was way too proud to give in and talk to you. He was pissed and hurt (even if he wouldn't admit it) but definitely wouldn't communicate with you about his feelings now that you seemed so indifferent. So his expression changed to cold as well and he leaned back in his chair grabbing the parchment once more and fixed his eyes on the letter beneath him. If you were to treat him like this he would play along.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next days you spent almost entirely ignoring each other. Of course you saw Daemon during the meals and when you spent time with your children but you didn't say more than necessary, never looked at him and especially never exchanged any sort of loving affection. You were stubborn and still furious and wanted him to feel that.

In your head Daemon had acted unreasonable and childish and you just hated it because you felt like he didn't actually listen to you. Why was it that you always had to keep a light head while he came up with dangerous ideas and plans and acted as if you were too controlling and scared. You weren't scared, you simply wanted your children to be safe, seven hells.

Daemon on the other hand was equally angry and couldn't understand your behaviour any better. To him, his suggestion was the perfect proof of his love to his children and he simply knew that Visenya would be perfectly fine on her dragon. He felt like you were controlling him and taking part in a piece of his family history that you just couldn't understand that well because you weren't a dragon rider yourself. Daemon was secretly hurt because in his understanding you were trying to claim that part of his identity and that translated in his anger.

And yet through all of his fury, he couldn't help but glance at you when you entered a room. Just like you also took care of him from afar, he had to make sure that you were alright, that you were eating enough and that you weren't overwhelmed with taking care of the children.

One time you didn't attend supper and Daemon had been worried when he found out that you had a headache. Everything inside of his screamed to approach you to take care of you but he couldn't get over his pride and he also wasn't sure whether you would even want him there.

So instead of visiting you, Daemon sent servants to your rooms every 10 minutes and ordered them to make sure you were fine and ask you whether you needed anything. In the meantime the prince walked up and down in his chambers and nervously nibbled at his nails. He hated this so much but what was he to do? He was a stubborn and proud person and remained angry with you. He certainly wouldn't be the first one to give and come apologizing.

~~~~~~~~~~

Four days after your fight, things shifted though because while Daemon tied his hair in the morrow there was a knock on the door.

A part of him hoped that it was you who finally wanted to discuss things but once he had ordered the person to come in the door slowly opened. He turned to see who it was and his face softened when he saw his daughters one by one peeking into the room. Daemon smiled gently and gestured them to come in. The three girls walked to their father who sat down on a chair and lifted his eyebrows at their careful and uncertain expressions.

"What is it, girls? You seem serious."

Saena, your eldest daughter nibbled at her thumb while glaring at her sisters.

"I-Is there something wrong?"

Daemon frowned. "What do you mean, darling?"

Now it was Meralith who stared at her father with big eyes and seemingly was sad. "You almost haven't spoken to mommy yesterday. And the day before. And the day before.", she mumbled and Daemon felt a little stitch in his heart.

He reached down to grab the girl under her arms and lifed her onto his lap. Then he caressed her silver hair out of her face and determindly looked into his daughters' eyes.

"Everything is fine, girls. Your mother and I have been very stressed the past days and sometimes there isn't a lot of time to talk to each other. But we cherish and love every second we get to see each other, alright?"

The only one who looked a little more relieved was Meralith on his lap but Saena and Visenya frowned and pouted.

"But it's never like that.", Visenya claimed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You never talk to mother or kiss her or even look at her."

Daemon shook his head. "I promise you that we have everything under control. In a few days there will be less things going on and your mother and I will have more time for each other again. You on the other hand – " He caressed his daughter's head. "Don't need to worry about anything."

Visenya sighed while Saena still looked suspicious but the three girls decided not to uphold the discussion any longer and told their father they would go in the gardens to play now. Daemon nodded feeling relieved and told them he would have to attend a small council meeting and reminded them of their lessons with their septa later.

What the rogue prince didn't know was that you just had had quite a similar conversation with your sons only a few feet away. Because Wyllam and Orlyn had knocked on your door even earlier. Orlyn with his four years was your youngest child and Wyllam had come to you with him because his brother had felt very anxious the past days because just like his sisters, he had sensed that his parents weren't on good terms with each other.

And so you had assured your sons that everything was perfectly fine, just as Daemon had your daughters. Of course you knew that you shouldn't lie to your children but this whole situation was already exhausting enough so you didn't additionally need your children to suffer from this. It was easier that way. Telling them that mommy and daddy were fine and they didn't have to worry about anything. And perhaps you would be. Maybe.

But Daemon and you didn't know that your children were way too smart to be tricked like that. They had left the both of you alone and pretended to believe you to some extent but once your three daughters had left Daemon's room and walked outside the castle to sit on a bench in the gardens Visenya looked at her older sister with a deep frown between her eyebrows.

"Do you believe father, Sae?", she asked and Saena thoughtfully bit her buttom lip.

"I don't know. I can't believe that we imagined this."

Tears were glistening in Meralith's eyes as she pulled at her sister's sleeve. "I-I want mommy and daddy to love each other.", she whimpered and Saena caringly wrapped her arms around the little girl.

"It's fine, Mera. They do love each other." But then she turned to Visenya again.

"But if father says so we are to believe him. He says we shouldn't worry and maybe – "

But her sister crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I don't care what he says. I know that something's wrong."

Meralith stared at her other sister now and pouted. "B-But no… Please Sae, do something."

Her eldest sister sighed and chewed on her lower lip. She wanted to say something when they were interrupted by their brother Wyllam who had sneaked up on his sisters from behind a tree.

"Arghhh.", he made and Saena shrieked. "Oh Wyllam, stop it."

Her brother laughed and held his stomach while Visenya angrily flashed her eyes at him.

"Not funny at all.", she hissed.

Orlyn stumbled towards his sister behind his brother and as with his sister Meralith tears swam in his eyes. Wyllam turned to him and then sighed.

"He is sad all the time and I wanted to play with him but he didn't want to so I thought you could take him."

Visenya reared up in front of him. "So you thought you could just bring him to us whenever he bores you?"

Her brother rolled his eyes and attempted to pat her head but the girl pushed away his hand. "Relax, sister. You are… girls. You are better with emotions."

That made Visenya jump at Wyllam and her fists came down to hit him in his stomach.

"I make you feel emotions now, you little – " Saena came forward and wrapped her arms around her sister to pull her back.

"Oh stop it, the both of you." Being older and stronger Saena was able to separate the fighting siblings and then once everyone was at calm again and Wyllam and Visenya only angrily glared at each other the eldest sibling kneeled down in front of Orlyn.

"What is it, little brother?" The boy sucked on his thumb and stared up to his sister without bringing out a word.

Wyllam shrugged. "It's because of mother and father. He believes they are fighting because they haven't spoken that much and now his whole world has been destroyed."

He rolled his eyes and indifferently plucked an apple from a nearby tree which he examined closely for holes or worms.

"Oh Orlyn.", Saena sighed and hugged her brother.

"I don't think there is reason to worry though.", said Saena then. "We've spoken to father and everything is fine between them."

Visenya cleared her throat while her youngest brother looked from one sibling to the other. "At least that's what he said. I believe that they have fought. It's always like this when they fight."

Saena shifted her attention from Orlyn to her sister. "What do you mean, always? They don't fight often."

Visenya rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know. But when it happens they always ignore each other. Like today and the day before."

Saena tiredly rubbed her eyes. "I mean… Maybe you are right after all. I sensed something as well but I thought now that father has claimed that we shouldn't worry…"

Wyllam had started to eat his apple but now that even his eldest sister doubted their parents' reassurances he also looked a little worried.

"I've taken Orlyn to mother in the morrow. He was so sad that I thought if we spoke to her, mother could calm him. But though she did, Orlyn remained panicky."

Visenya lifted her eyebrows. "You've spoken to mother? And she said that as well?"

Wyllam nodded. "Yes. She said that her and father were perfectly fine."

Saena put a hand to her lip and hummed to herself. "What should we do now?"

Everyone stared at each other as if they would find a solution in their sibling's faces but no one came forward with a suggestion. It was Meralith who opened her mouth first.

"I want mommy and daddy to love each other again.", she whispered again with her eyes dropped to the ground. Saena, who felt the most responsible and caring towards her siblings took a step towards her sister and pressed the girl's head to her chest.

"They still love each other even when they're fighting, Mera. They are just not talking at the moment but they are still in love, do you understand me?"

Saena kissed her hair and felt her sister nod slightly. So she pulled back, having made sure that Meralith was fine and questioningly looked around in the circle. Visenya cleared her throat and rested her hands on her hips.

"We should do something. Give them no choice but to talk to each other."

Wyllam agreed and nodded. "We could lock them in the same room.", he suggested but Saena shook her head.

"That goes too far, brother. And how would you even do it? No, we have to come up with something else. Though I'm not sure if we even should interfere…"

Visenya rolled her eyes and walked back and forth. "Of course we should interfere, sister. Otherwise they're never gonna speak again."

Her youngest siblings looked shocked at her words and fearfully stared at her with big eyes.

"Stop scaring them.", complained Saena. "She is not being serious.", she then spoke to Meralith and Orlyn. "Of course mother and father are going to speak again."

Then the eldest girl sighed and looked at Visenya. "Fine. Maybe we could try it. We should make them talk again."

Her sister nodded contendly and clapped her hands. "Perfect. I already have a plan."

Wyllam frowned. "You do?"

She nodded and pointed at Orlyn. "What is your favourite game?"

The boy widened his eyes and his gaze wandered over his sibling. "Hide and seek."

Visenya nodded. "Exactly. Mother and father will notice that Orlyn is feeling a little weary and sad. So he will go them, perhaps separately and tell them that he would love to play a round of hide and seek with the whole family." She smiled mischieviously. "And then we will manipulate the game so mother and father are in the same team. Then they will have no choice but to talk again and everything will be fine."

The girl smiled proudly and looked from Saena to Wyllam waiting for their admirations but her sister frowned.

"What if they don't have the time? Or they don't want to? Father said it himself, they're very stressed at the moment."

But Visenya shook her head and sighed. "You forget that this was only an excuse, sister. And Orlyn just has to be persistent with them."

"I can do that.", her brother claimed and raised his chin.

Wyllam also thoughtfully hummed. "But what if they won't talk? They can play the game with us and still just ignore each other…"

Visenya realized that he had a point and his sisters remained silent for a moment. Then it was Saena who shrugged.

"We could try it though, right? It's not a perfect plan but it's better than doing nothing."

Visenya nodded enthusiastically while Wyllam hesitatingly tilted his head but it was decided. Meralith and Orlyn were seemingly merely glad that something was happening to make their parents reconcile and so in the afternoon Orlyn shyly knocked at your door while your handmaidens were brushing your hair that always got so messy over the day.

When you saw who it was you smiled softly and sent away your servants. Your son still looked a little sad so you took him into your arms, lifted him and caressed his dark hair.

"My sweet boy.", you purred while holding him closely to you. Orlyn crouched against your neck which made you close your eyes simply enjoying the closeness to your youngest child.

"Mommy?", he then hummed against your neck after a while and you felt the vibrations in your whole body.

"Yes, love?"

"Can we play a game in the gardens? Please."

You sighed and drew your face in a painful smile. "Oh Orlyn, it's really… I have so much to do…"

Your son pouted at you and you felt a little stitch in your heart at his dissatisfied expression. "Please mommy."

You chuckled at his dark puppy eyes that looked so much like your little sister's and suddenly you remembered the way she had looked at you as a child when she used to ask you to play with her and so you knew you couldn't refuse your son.

"Alright, sweetling. What do you want to play?"

Your son shrieked excitedly which made you deepen your smile and his hands grabbed your shoulders.

"I want to play hide and seek. With Meralith and Wyllam and Visenya and Saena."

You nodded and put Orlyn back to his feet. "Fine. As you wish, love."

And so the two of you walked out of your chambers and to the gardens where your other children were already waiting. You hadn't lied when you said that you had a lot of things to do, but when Orlyn had come to you earlier to ask about Daemon and you, you had sensed that your son was feeling a little worried and anxious, even after you had assured him that everything was the way it was supposed to be. And so you had decided to make some time for your youngest son to give him your love and affection and make sure he didn't feel sad and concerned anymore.

Now you stood with your children but just when you were about to ask them what teams each of you were playing in Orlyn excused himself. You didn't see the wink that was exchanged between your son and Visenya because their plan was it to get your husband now and in that way give Daemon and you no choice but to talk about your differences.

You didn't know that though and just watched your son haste inside the castle with a surprised expression but were quickly distracted by Meralith who showed you a bunch of beautiful flowers she had collected. You admired and complimented each of it and were leaned down to closely examine the flowers when suddenly your daughter shrieked and twitched. A bee had stung her on her arm and tears filled her eyes at once.

"Owww.", she cried and you were shocked when you saw the sting starting to swell.

"Oh no no.", you made and grabbed your daughter's arm to look at the sting. The girl cried panicky while your other children gathered around their sister.

"What is it, mother?", Wyllam asked concerned and you kneeled in front of Meralith.

"Saena, get the grand maester. Quickly."

Your eldest daughter looked equally shocked as your other children and swiftly ran off inside the castle.

"It's alright, sweet girl.", you tried to sooth Meralith even though you felt really scared yourself. Her whole arm was swollen by now and your daughter looked pale in her face though you weren't sure if it might be caused by her shock.

"Everything will be fine, Mera. Just look at me and breathe."

You had to keep a clear head and clam your children who all nervously wandered around and Wyllam had started nibble at his thumb, a habit he had since he was a young boy.

"Mother what's happening? It looks so scary.", he asked.

You caressed Meralith's shoulders and tried to breathe steadily. "It's just a bee sting. Saena will be back soon with the grand maester and then everything will be fine."

Your daughter's cheeks were coated with her tears and you just prayed that your words would turn out to be truthful. And then finally your eldest daughter returned, old grand maester Simon hasting behind her. He was breathless and held his chest as he kneeled down in front of your daughter.

"Oh gods be good. What happened here?", the old man asked and Meralith's lower lip trembled.

You took a step back to let Simon take a look at the sting and wrapped your arm around Wyllam and Visenya. Anxiously you bit your lip and waited while watching the grand maester doing his work when there was suddenly someone else entering the gardens. You had totally forgotten about Orlyn and the fact that he had mysteriously left the scene to get back to the castle but now your son walked out with Daemon.

All of a sudden there was a tightness in your throat and you felt the need to cry and just hug your husband. He narrowed his eyes when he understood the scene and hurried to Meralith who was still crying.

"Darling! What happened?"

It wasn't you who answered though you wanted to. Simon explained it to Daemon while your youngest frightened son ran to you and pressed himself to your legs. You petted his hair while you watched Daemon talking to his daughter with his eyebrows drawn together. His hands held hers tightly and then you head Simon speak again.

"First she should go to bed now and rest. I'll bring the medicine that she might require."

And so your husband picked your daughter up from the ground and carried her inside with Simon following close behind. For a brief moment Daemon and your eyes met and all he could see was the worry and angst on your face. Then they were inside and as much as you wanted to hurry inside too to by at your daughter's side, you had to calm and be there for your other children now.

~~~~~~~~~~

And that you did. You stayed with Orlyn, Wyllam, Saena and Visenya by the fireplace, read them from their favourite books and assured them that their sister would be fine.

It had gotten late and soon Wyllam expressed that he was tired and wanted to go to bed so that was what you did next. It took some time bringing each child to their rooms, covering them up with their blanket (the only exception was Visenya who insisted that she was old enough to do it herself), wishing them a good night and promising them that in the morrow they could see Meralith.

It was the hour of the owl when Saena drifted off to sleep and you sighed as you left her chambers. Your plan was to finally look after Meralith but just when you were about to enter her rooms grand maester Simon opened the door and put his finger to his lips.

"Shh. She has just fallen asleep."

He closed the door behind him so you didn't have a chance to peek inside the room.

"How is she? Please, I need to see her."

Simon looked pitiful as he shook his head. "She is fine, my lady. She will be fine. But you shouldn't disturb her now, it has taken hours until she was calm enough to drift away to sleep."

You exhaled bitterly. Everything was just so overwhelming and the worry about your daughter restricted the air coming to your lungs.

"Fuck.", you breathed because you had held back your emotions all evening and now all you wanted was to see that Meralith was fine and not even that you could do.

"I'm sorry. But she needs her rest, I recommend you come and see her first thing in the morrow."

You nodded though you felt disappointed and sad. Simon bowed his head and then turned to walk away from you. You were left feeling cold and lonely and in desperation. You inhaled a few times and then unwillingly returned to your chambers.

Once you were there you felt empty and numb but knew that you wouldn't be able to sleep now. You wished you could fall asleep next to your daughter because you were certain that her presence was all you needed right now to be calm. Knowing that you were denied that, you walked up and down in your chambers so close to tears but they just wouldn't spill for some reason.

Suddenly there was a knock on your door and absently you called "Come."

Only after the words had left your mouth did you realized what you had done. You couldn't bare the presence of anyone who was not Meralith right now and you wanted to slap yourself for not thinking before speaking.

But when the door opened your eyes rounded and it felt as though a weight dropped from your heart.

Daemon stood in the door watching you with tired eyes that in an instant made a warmth spread in your body. The lump in your throat seemed to somehow increase in size and now you felt that the tears started to form in the corner of your eyes.

You saw him gulp and then walk towards you and without speaking a word Daemon wrapped his arms around you. You held him equally tightly and for a moment you felt so relaxed and at calm that you forgot every worry or concern and the comfort of his body so close to yours made a few tears escape your eyes.

"She'll be fine, y/n.", Daemon hummed against your hair and you nodded against him.

"Yes. Yes, she will be."

Then you pulled away from him but still had your hands on his shoulders. "Did you see her? Is she in pain?"

Daemon smiled softly and caressed your back. "I did see her. She was scared but… no, she wasn't in great pain."

Then he pressed you against his chest again so you felt the warmth of his body and now you realized how much you had missed him these past days. Gods, how had you done it? How had you survived without laying next to him at nights, without smelling his familiar scent?

"I'm sorry, y/n.", he now whispered against your ear and your thumb soothed his collarbone.

"Me too.", you said and then once again pulled back to watch your husband.

"I know that all you did was act out of love for Visenya. I'm sorry for what I accused you of and I know that I perhaps was too hasty and I… I didn't think about what I was asking of you.", Daemon stuttered and you smiled softly.

"And I shouldn't have said that you were acting like a bad father. I know that you're not."

He grabbed your hand while watching you with these puppy eyes that immediately made you melt.

"I know that you're right. Our daughter should always be safe and I-I don't know what possessed me. There's nothing wrong with waiting another year until she will mount her dragon and I want her to be safe too. I just… I guess I just felt hurt hearing you speak about how dangerous it is to be on dragonback. It felt like you thought of dragonriders as ridiculous and imprudent. And then... I thought you were trying to take this part of me and my identity away. And then maybe I was scared that you would never allow Visenya to mount her dragon and that made me act irrational and emotional. Gods… I know that it was so childish of me to come forward with this idea and stubbornly insist on it."

He kissed the back of your hand and then you reached up to hold the side of his beautiful face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to feel you like that. And I know that you acted out of love as well. I know that you're proud of your family and your traditions and I respect that so much, love. I know that you want Visenya to carry this tradition as well and share it with her and just like you, I can't wait until she will. I don't think of dragonriders as imprudent. I think of them as fierce and brave and I know that Visenya will do an amazing job."

His eyes lovingly looked into yours and he squeezed your hand tightly.

"Thank you.", he merely spoke and then you leaned forward to kiss Daemon on his lips.

That night you didn't throw out Daemon. That night you didn't feel cold or lonely.

That night you held your husband tightly with his arms wrapped around your back while your hands were buried in his hair. You both knew that it would probably get way too warm in the night because a thick blanket was additionally covering the both of you but you didn't care. All you wanted was to feel Daemon again and so you drew patterns on his scalp while the both of you drifted away with your thoughts.

"I love you, y/n. So much."

You smiled with closed eyes. "I love you too, Daemon."

And then you fell asleep with your last thought being that you promised yourself you would never let such a stupid fight get between you.

[cacoetheswriting]

honesty: the music video

pairing: rockstar!eddie munson x popstar!fem!reader word count: 2.3k summary: after a long day on set, you can't wait to get it on with your costar.

content warnings: 18+, minors dni: mature themes, literally smut with a minor plot, established relationship, unprotected p in v, overstimulation, praise kink, dom-ish eddie, adult language, heavy use of pet names, mentions of aftercare — if i missed anything in this chapter, pls let me know!

celebrity skin. masterlist <- part of this lil' universe, but can totally be read as a stand-alone. timeline wise, this takes place somewhere after part 3 and before end part 5.

“We want it to be sexy.”

“But not too sexy.”

“Revealing.”

“But not too revealing.”

“Sounds like you guys don’t know what you want,” Eddie chimes in, interrupting the back and forth of your respective teams.

You stifle a giggle.

“That’s ‘cause of the two distinct styles,” someone from your team clarifies, “We wanna be respectful.”

“For sure,” one of the creatives on the Corroded Coffin side agrees. There’s a short pause. “We will have you two kiss at the end, though.”

At that, Eddie smirks. He looks at you from across the table and you could just about melt right there, blood rushing to your face, warming your cheeks.

“That won’t be a problem,” he says confidently and winks.

-

Honesty was a guaranteed hit. Top of the charts. Everybody that’s been so far involved in the project said it. They praised it. From the bass, drums, to the guitar and vocals. The production value was off the scale. A dream arrangement that would stand the test of time.

All the song needed was a music video equally as captivating.

A back and forth discourse began shortly after you first started recording with the band: whose style should the clip resemble more?

Corroded Coffin screamed all things dark, maybe a little gory. Their usual expression featured slightly melancholy undertones and a lot of references to all things Dungeons & Dragons. Imaginative, for sure. An artistry that had rarely been seen in the genre. 

Although it’s been an artistry vastly different from yours. 

The glitter hadn’t necessarily been your idea, but it certainly became a signature of sorts. Anything sparkly, always. And music videos that told a story. Most often one of love since that’s what you idolised ever since you were a kid — it obviously helped that love also sold millions of copies.

Eddie’s team argued that it’s the band’s song and you’re just a feature, therefore the accompanying video should lean into their style. Your management team was hesitant to agree. Calculating risk in case the lines get blurred a little too much and your pristine image shifts to the opposite end of the spectrum. Hours of arguments. Hours of negotiations. None of which you, or the rockstar were even mildly aware of. Too lost in each other's eyes and soft cotton sheets. 

Eventually, a compromise, of sorts, was found.

Ernest Hemingway’s The Killers influenced, in part, a 1946 film noir of the same title, with Ava Gardner and Burt Lancaster taking the lead. The movie, in turn, inspired the black and white music video.

Done up in flair of the characters, Kitty Collins and Ole Anderson (aka Swede), you recreated iconic scenes alongside the brown-eyed rockstar. The rest of the band was also dressed to the nines. Side characters that played their instruments in the background of main shots. They blended in well, while adding a unique spin to the known story. 

Overall, the Honesty shoot quickly became a big spectacle. Bigger than anything Eddie Munson and his band of closest friends has ever been lucky enough to be a part of.

Intricate sets. Glamourous. In front of cameras and bright lights, you and your scene partner, Eddie, mouthed along the lyrics to the song as if they were a script. And with every scene, as if the two of you were the only people actually there, no equipment and no crew, you got lost a tiny bit. Lost in the chocolate of the rockstar’s wide gaze. In the way he smelled. The style of that decade suited the brunette greatly, so you became lost in how he looked in this character. Dapper. Unlike you’ve ever witnessed him before. He committed to the role too. A certain swag in his movements. How he touched you so hesitantly, delicately because that’s what the video required.

By the end of the night, after the director yells, “Cut!” to signalise a wrap, a round of applause for all involved in this project, you’re feeling hot and bothered. Sweaty, though not because you just completed a full day’s work. No. Somehow, you found the Corroded Coffin frontman even more attractive than at the start of that day — something you didn’t think was possible. When you glance in his direction, he’s already staring you down, and you know he feels the same way.

Backstage, inside your trailer, you’re sitting cross-legged on the couch. Fingertips at your lips as you wait for that inevitable knock on your door. You know it’s only a matter of time considering the build up of tension throughout the shoot. From the lingering touches and that kiss the director had you two repeat over and over and over…

Logically, you could wait until the two of you were home. Back at Eddie’s Hidden Hills mansion, away from prying eyes and ears. In a bed that’s become all too familiar. Far from possible interruptions. Logic however, well, right now, logic was taking a back burner ‘cause you needed him now. Desperately. And without a doubt, Eddie needed you too.

A knock. Then again. But the rockstar doesn’t wait for you to answer. He lets himself in. 

“What happened to the wig?” You ask, raising a brow.

“It was itchy,” he replies with a slight laugh, then shakes his head. “I much prefer my natural locks.” 

“That’s too bad,” you say with a slight shrug, “You looked quite smart with that short hair.”

Eddie hangs his head with a smile, though his eyes don’t leave yours. Not even for a second. That’s when you notice the glimmer. That look, the reason he’s here, just like you predicted. So you return the expression. Only yours is a little more sly. Tempting him. Teasing. 

“I had fun today.”.

“Me too.”

There’s a lot that happens in the seconds after you stand up. A lot that happens quickly. 

Eddie reaches for your wrist, pulling you closer before wrapping his, for once, ringless hand around yours completely. He presses it to the middle of his chest, holding it against his heart. You can feel it beating and that’s enough to make you melt ‘cause it’s strong and you swear it skips at the contact. His other hand reaches for the base of your throat. He holds it gently, caressing upwards until he’s gripping your jaw. 

“Kissing you in front of all those other people kinda got me going,” he admits in a low tone.

Naughty, that’s what you want to say, but you don’t get the chance ‘cause his lips crash into yours. Hungry. Desperate. Rough. Heat rushes through your body at the sudden contact, no different than any other time his mouth found yours. You’re at his mercy, always, and he knows it well. 

His tongue glides along your top lip and you part your lips to accept him without hesitation. He wastes no time sliding into your mouth, letting this tongue work in tandem with yours as he tilts his head to further deepen the kiss. The hand holding yours lets go, instead finding home on the small of your back, pushing you as close to him as humanly possible. His other hand lets go of your jaw, albeit not completely. Ghosting along the side of your neck before you feel him wrap it around your throat, squeezing lightly. It’s nothing new for Eddie to be a little rougher with you, but there’s something about this moment, after a full day of moderate teasing and borderline foreplay, that causes a moan to burst through you when he squeezes again, only harder.

The rockstar pulls back, sporting a devilish grin. “Making such pretty noises for me and we haven’t even gotten to the best part.”

“Do your worst, Eds.” It’s a dare. Nothing sweet about it.

He smirks at the challenge and before you can register what exactly is happening, Eddie is lifting you up swiftly, hiking up your dress in the process, only to drop you down onto the sofa with a gentle thud. You’re wide-eyed as he unbuckles his belt with one hand, the other tugging at the pantyhose the wardrobe lady had you wear for the last scene of the video. He partially rips them off of you, then he hikes his index finger along the band of your underwear, eagerly pulling them down your legs until they’re wrapped around your ankles, with the reminisce of your stockings.

“The heels stay on,” the rockstar instructs, pushing your legs apart with force and positioning himself in between. All you can do is nod. Half-naked, half in costume. Same as him.

In the space of a heartbeat, his lips are on yours again. This time they don’t stay for long, instead moving downwards towards your chest. When he squeezes your breast through the silk material of your dress, he compliments how fucking good you looked, “I wanted to ravish you the second I saw you, baby.”

You whimper at his words, and at the fact that his now freed cock is gently brushing against your wet folds. Not quite breaching, just teasing you further. Only adding to the overall stimulation. 

“God, you’re so fucking hot. So fucking pretty. And all mine.” Eddie’s breathing into your bare chest ‘cause somehow in the moment your dress has slipped down ever so slightly and your tits made an appearance. Fingers from one hand are digging into your hip, holding you in place, while the other has you by the ribs. Thumb brushing your soft skin while his hot mouth is sucking on your hardened nipple.

Your eyes are closed. You’re not sure when you closed them. He’s invading your senses all at once. Just when you feel like you can’t take it anymore, when you want to whither and plead for him to touch you where you need him most, Eddie plunges himself into you without warning and your eyes snap open. 

“Oh God…” he groans, drawing his hips back only to slam them in again, making your body bounce against him. “Fuck, baby. Jesus.”

You sob in pleasure as Eddie knocks the wind out of you with each relentless thrust, still increasing his speed. Heavy panting and grunting fills the trailer, along with the sounds of where his cock slams against your sweet juices. He’s sitting straight now. Eyes are fixated on the mess you’re both making, where his length disappears in and out of you, while you admire the way his locks fall naturally in place. Although briefly, ‘cause you’re arching your back the next second, rolling your eyes to the back of your head when he hits that sweet spot.

“So. Fucking. Pretty.” He growls. “You’re so fucking pretty when you’re all stretched open like this, sweetheart. Your pussy was made for my cock, baby. You take it so well. You take this big dick so well, my good girl. Fucking made for me. Ain’t that right, dollface?”

“Made for you, Eds.” You just about whisper back, nodding your head feverishly.

Slap. His hand makes contact with your thigh and you practically wail. “That’s right,” he praises, “Made for me. So fucking tight for me.” Slap. Slap. Slap. 

Eddie’s cock starts to swell. You can feel it expand inside of you, then again when he thrusts back in. It has you heaving. The speed he’s established is close to becoming a little too much for the two of you and he drops his weight slightly, allowing you to wrap your arms around him, nails digging into his bare back. He can sense that you too are close and he’s trying hard to hold back, make this moment last longer, but his body refuses to slow down. Chasing the way your glistening pussy chokes his length. 

“Where do you want me baby?”

“Inside,” you croak out. “Cum in me, Eddie. Please. I need you to fill me up.”

“M’mph—” He chokes out, movements growing more and more erratic. The whole trailer is shaking at this point, that’s what it feels like to the two of you anyway. “Everybody out there will know what a good little slut you are. Not that innocent. Wanting me to fill you full of my cum, fuck.” 

Slap. Slap. Against your thigh. 

“Please, Eddie.” 

Slap.

“Shh… I’ll give you what you want, sweetheart.” He coos, “Gonna pump you full. Gonna make you see stars while my cum drips out of you.”

That’s when you shatter around him, uncontrollable desperate squeals making him groan louder as he continues. It’s sloppy, messy, and once you’ve completely unravelled underneath him, the rockstar can’t contain himself any longer. He lets out a broken moan as ropes and ropes of his warm spend start to throb into your hole.

His body gives up at the last spur and he drops flat on top of you, although not without a loose kiss placed to your jaw. His cock remains inside of your pussy. You can feel it pulsing until, after a few minutes, it no longer matches the beat of your heart.

Eddie lifts himself then. He kisses you softly and you smile against his mouth. When he eventually slips out and stands, he tells you not to move, that he’ll grab a towel from the small trailer bathroom and will help you get cleaned up.

“Wardrobe is going to kill us,” you call after him, balancing on your elbows as you sit up slowly. “Pretty sure these clothes can never be worn again. Purely for the fact that they reek of sex.”

“At least your wig stayed in place,” Eddie points out lightheartedly when he returns, his pants once again buckled, a towel in his hand. “That’s something the hair and makeup team should be proud of.”

“I’ll be sure to tell them,” you say, meaning it as a joke ‘cause there’s no way you would ever admit to what sins the two of you just committed.

Eddie smirks. “Pretty sure they already know,” he says as if it’s no big deal, “We weren’t exactly quiet, sweetheart.”

as always, thank you for reading! pls comment, reblog & support your creators.

celebrity skin. masterlist | the killers (1946) reference

& the celebrity skin. taglist: @eviethetheatrefreak , @thirddeadlysin , @haylaansmi , @nope-thanks , @tlclick73 , @vintagehellfire , @ashlynnkennedy , @avalon-wolf , @sidthedollface2 , @astheni-a , @bebe07011 , @aysheashea , @papillonoirsworld , @vol2eddie , @spideyanakin-interacts , @rogers-sweatbands , @mimsie95 , @mmunson86 , @eddiesguitarskills - (if your user is crossed out, it means the tag isn’t working. pls check you’ve enabled tagging in your settings)

[justcallmecj]

Seeing Your Dragon Form: Vice's+Ruggie and Floyd

Trey

Trey was a lot more chill about this than you were expecting him to be.

He agreed to come with you with no problem, and when you came out of the mist and he saw you, he looked like this was all normal.

He quickly approached you and stretched his arms towards you. You brought yourself closer to the ground to make it easier for him to reach your head.

Gently, Trey pet your head. Running his hands across you snout and up to your horns.

He always made sure to keep eye contact with you if you were looking at him. Your e/c eyes and his golden colored eyes locked together.

He constantly made small talk with you, asking simple yes or no questions or simply telling you about something random.

Unbeknownst to you, on the inside, Trey was freaking out!

You reminded him a puppy! (Quite a deal larger than an actual puppy, but his view is still valid.)

He's used to keeping some form of a rational, adult face all the time. You, Riddle and Chenya are really the only ones who have seen the childish side that he has.

Because of this, he didn't want to just full on fawn and freak out on you. He also didn't want to risk overwhelming you.

He opted to waiting for you to be human again, where you could speak, to ask any questions he had.

Later that day, when you had turned back into your fae form, he asked. Surprisingly, he had a lot of questions.

"I'm proud of you, Y/N. I'll let you do what you want for right now, but when we get back to the dorm, prepare for questions, alright?"

Ruggie

He was very skeptical when you asked if he wanted to see your dragon form.

He immediately thought that you wanted something out of this (like to eat him).

With plenty of skepticism, he followed you out to your spot in the woods and waited patiently for you to come out of the mist.

Seeing you had him stunned for a solid 2 minutes.

Now, you and Ruggie have been friends for a long time now, and he knows that it's you, but he had a rough childhood.

You were about 4x his size, serrated claws, razor sharp teeth and covered in spikes. Everything about you screamed DANGEROUS.

It was like staring down everything that he taught himself to stay away from.

Then you did something he wasn't expecting.

You sat quietly and gently tilted your head to the side. Your e/c eyes gazed into his with a look he feels is familiar to him.

Then he remembered. Once, when one of his younger brothers had gotten into a fight, he came home looking roughed up and dangerous. But the moment Ruggie came to patch him up and they met eyes, his brother gave him a look that extremely contrasted that roughed up state he was in. His brother was soft and on the verge of crying.

Looking at you, it was the same thing. Ruggie got the same feeling he did back then. You looked scary and dangerous, but he knew that you were still the same softy that he sees everyday.

Finally, he got over his initial feelings and strutted towards you. He ended up right under your head, forcing you to look down at a weird angle to see him. You adjusted yourself and brought your head to his level.

Just as Ruggie had done with his brother, he patted you on the head. It instilled a feeling of contentment in you and your eyes slowly fluttered shut. Soon, a gently hum ran through your throat and hit Ruggie with the vibrations since he was still patting you.

"Wow, that worked a lot better than I thought it would. Y'know, all this nice treatment from me will cost ya, Y/N~"

Jade

You had his curiosity extremely peaked.

He must admit, upon meeting you and learning you were a fae, he thought about what you may look like as a dragon whenever he was with you.

He never said anything, out of courtesy and politeness. But now that you were offering him the chance, he took it with no hesitation and never held his tongue about anything.

You had asked him during on of the very few times Floyd wasn't with him, meaning at was just you two. (You still can't tell if that made things better or worse)

Jade was unaffected by the mist, and the extra amount of cold you radiated.

The first thing he did? Go to your tail. Him being an eel, he has one himself. For some reason, he wanted to find out how different yours was from his. He's never been able to get good looks at the tails of the beastmen at school, so you were his best example.

He poked and prodded at the spike that ran down it. Not that you minded, there was no feeling there and if they were to break, they'd grow back quickly. There was only feeling in your spikes when in fae form.

Soon, he had gathered all the information he needed for the time being. He then sat by your snout, which had been on the ground as you had laid down.

He held a pleasant conversation with you. You couldn't respond, but he didn't care. He spoke of things that really didn't need you input but still kept you entertained, which was his goal.

At times, he unconsciously start petting and stroking you. Running a hand across your hand(?) and claw, soft head pats, gentle rubs behind your ears, things like that. You decided to take a nap due the peaceful sounds of the woods and Jade's calming voice.

"You never cease to stretch my thoughts of you. When I think I have you figured out, you surprise me." He can only hope you can't hear him right now.

Floyd

Unlike with the others, it wasn't you who suggested him seeing your dragon form, it was Floyd.

He had been insistently pestering you about it for weeks now. Both Azul and Jade have tried to get him off your back but he just pops back up and asks again.

Eventually, you gave in.

Upon the disappearance of the mist, he was already on top of you.

Without notice, he poked at your sides, claws and wings. You barely even had enough time to figure out what he was doing before he moved on to investigate somewhere else. He stayed away from your tail though.

You even allowed him to climb onto your back for a while. He didn't stay long though, he found the scales to be too uncomfortable to stay there much longer.

Eventually, he opted to spend some time near your head, so he could spend the rest of the time with you.

For a while, he was surprisingly chill with you, but then mood swings decided to pay a visit.

He got frustrated that you couldn't talk back, or more so at the fact he couldn't understand you. He just really wanted to know what you were saying to him.

You thought of just not saying anything to not further escalate things, but then realized he be even more upset if he felt you were ignoring him.

You've been friends with Floyd for a long time now, and you've gotten pretty good at handling his mood swings. The moment you felt he was getting too frustrated, you took action.

You brought your tail towards him and pushed him over. He fixed himself and caught sight of your face. You may be a dragon right now, but he could tell that you were smiling at him and laughing in your head. He saw what game you were trying to play easily.

You two playfully wrestled with each other for a long time. He would climb around and you'd gently knock him over. Things like that.

"Umitsubame-kun! I knew it be a good idea to do this. We could've been having this much fun sooner if you had just listened to me when I first asked~"

Jamil

Jamil was a lot calmer than his Scarabian counterpart.

He will admit though, he's been curious about what you may look like. Just like Kalim, he doesn't have much experience with dragons, real or fake.

The mist was freezing to him, though, considering where he grew up, that's no surprise.

He didn't quite know how to respond.

You looked awesome! But he didn't know what to do from there. You two just kinda stared at each other for a while, neither moving.

Then you took the lead.

You walked up to him (it only took you like three steps) and raised your hand(?) into the air.

He flinched, thinking you were gonna crush him, but then froze when he felt himself rise into the air.

When he opened his eyes he saw that you had picked him up and held him in your palm.

Luckily he's spent enough time on the flying carpet to not be afraid of heights.

You brought him close to your snout and in a moment of no better ideas, he gently placed a hand on the tip of your nose.

Your scales were freezing cold, and while he expected the air you exhaled to be warm, it was just as cold as your scales, if not colder.

Now he was a lot more comfortable with the situation, meaning he started doing more.

He asked questions, then realized that you couldn't speak. He then decided to change his method and asked yes or no questions. They started as one about your dragon form, then the conversation drifted off into other subjects. School. Food. Dorm life. Other students at school.

He asked if changing forms was tiring to you, in which you gave him a side ways nod. 'Sorta' is what you were telling him.

"How about when we're done here, we go back to Scarabia and I'll make you something to eat and get your energy back up? Take is as a 'thank you' for this experience."

Rook

Actually, this isn't his first time seeing your dragon form.

Since the first day he saw you, you've captured his attention, and triggered his hunting habits.

One day when you were taking a break from NRC life, you snuck away and spent some time as a dragon. Unbeknownst to you, he had been watching you the whole time.

But then you actually asked him if he wanted to see. He told you 'yes' with a strange and knowing excitement.

He was on top of you even before the mist cleared since his sight was enough for him.

This is the first time he's been this close to a creature so much bigger than him.

Throughout the entire experience he was showering you in compliment after compliment. Words of encouragement filled with passion, charisma and said quite fervently.

You wholeheartedly believed that even if he wanted to, Rook would not have been able to take his hands off you. His hands touched where ever they could, your spikes, wings, horns, snout, claws, tail, you name it.

You understood though. You've always known how curious Rook is. How, while it seemed strange and creepy to others, his habits and mannerisms never really bothered you.

Out of no where, he confessed to following you all that time ago.

He could see as emotions flicked across your draconic face for a few seconds. Confusion. Realization. Upset. Thoughtfulness. Then it stilled into one. Amusement.

Your chest rose and fell fast. You were laughing. Rook couldn't help but laugh himself, lowkey glad you weren't upset with him.

"Oh dear Dragon de Glace, your beauty is truly magnifique! I hope you and I will continue to have many moments like these in the future!"

Lilia

He happily took you on you offer.

He's known the Draconia family for years, so you having a dragon form is nothing new to him. Heck, he was there the first time Malleus used his.

Out of everyone, who saw you as intimidating or astounding, he saw you as cute.

Lilia will admit with no remorse, he has a soft spot for dragons. With his experience in helping to raise Malleus, he can't help it.

When you opened your eyes after transforming, you were met with Lilia's large, red, slit-pupil eyes in you face, upside down.

He flipped out and rested his arms in your snout, using them to support his chin.

He then struck up a conversation. He could understand every word you said to him. (Learned with Malleus.)

It was an extremely lovely conversation. But, you did get embarrassed when he would speak to you as if you were a child.

You'll have to excuse him. It's an old and sometimes an unconscious habit he picked up due to Malleus and mostly Silver.

For some reason, he really likes booping your nose. Mid conversation he'll just boop you for no apparent reason. He then proceeds to giggle to himself at your reactions.

Eventually, you got a bit tired. Your body relaxed while listening to Lilia and your eyes fluttered close.

Seeing that you had drifted off to sleep, Lilia got closer and gently moved your head into his lap. It was ridiculous with how much bigger your head was compared to him, but cute non the less.

He gently stoked your snout, making sure you stayed asleep. As you snored away, he remembered when he would do this with Malleus and even Silver when they were babies. It made him smile, a smile you unfortunately couldn't see.

"Just stay asleep Little One. I'll be here when you wake up, and we can continue to have some fun."

[classicanalyzer]

Dragon Prince S6 Thoughts

"Sometimes the line between mercy and cruelty can be thin." Aaravos and Startouch Elves

Well holy shit, that opening really went from wholesome Viren (who is alive) hugging Terry and celebrating Aaravos’ supposed “lie” to OH GOD CLAUDIA KILLED A CHILD. God, it's really terrifying seeing Claudia give so much to save her father...it really hits home how Viren felt responsible for leading her down this route. The tragic thing is that I think Viren knows deep inside that as of now, he can't help her...but he hopes he can inspire her to turn back. Despite everything she did, Claudia's actions to save her father were all for nothing. She lost a leg and her soul (it is yet to be seen if her soul can be brought back) and yet by the time she reached home, her father died yet again...this time for good. Claudia's screams were really chilling and sad.

At least, Terry is always there for Claudia...though I'm worried about what will happen to him given Claudia's increasing mental dive into darkness and insanity. He rightfully points out how revenge is different from love and how it drove Aaravos to the deaths of God who knows.

I really love that Viren didn't choose to reveal what he did to heal Soren. It would've just caused Soren more grief and pain. That's one of the most best things Viren could have done before his sacrifice. He carries on the absolute shame (I felt chills when I heard how he obtained the last part of the spell) that he caused rather than “pass it on” so to say to Soren.

Viren’s true death feels fitting for him. All this time everyone close to him ask if he was willing to risk his life for another. Dark Magic has ruined so many lives and yet also saved so man in some cases. There is a price to be paid. But finally, he proved that he was willing to do that rather than find some other way to pay the price or back out. This time he paid the price and did a truly selfless action where nobody had to get hurt...other than him. He lived his whole life choosing what he felt was pragmatic and selfish with only a few moments of his good self showing...he chose to finally die a servant of his home. While Soren will understandably never forgive him for what he did to him and the world, he will remember him for his last act of unselfish genuine goodness and living up to his desires of atonement rather than going back. I also love how his last words are the last words spoken by Harrow to him.

"I am a servant. I am a...servant." Viren's last words

That entire ship episode is so hilarious with the meta-commentary. The Celestial Elves were a really cool sub-ect of Skywing Elves. I also love the parallels between dealing with Ice Behmeath in the present and the Magma Titan in the past. Instead of killing the beast which left people killed, they found what made it so sad and everyone lives.

Also Callum and Rayla are back together! So happy and I wished we didn't have the break-up personally but still finally.

I now understand the Soren and Corvus ship, and I approve.

I'm so happy that Amaya and Janai finally got married at last. Too bad Karim had to ruin all the vibes temporarily, thankfully, the two were able to salvage it. Amaya and Janai truly deserve the world.

The build-up to when Ezran and Corvus realizes the true plan of Karim is really chilling.

S6 really has me lowkey ship Ezran and Aanya haha. Two badass, wise, and compassionate young rulers who lost their parents...speaking off, I can't imagine seeing Ezran in S7 now that he knows his kingdom is destroyed.

Sol Regem really is responsible for the events of the show. While it is dark how he died and it's horrible how he was responsible for his soulmate's death, I can't say he didn't deserve his death at all. He was the one who laid the seeds for humanity's conflict with elves and utterly despises humanity. He literally choked and burned on his own element.

Katolis being destroyed made me sad since it was our primary setting in the human realm for 6 seasons.

The Startouch Elves gave me so many Collector vibes. Aaravos really is the Ardyn of Dragon Prince with a bit of Collector and I'm all here for it. Now all that is needed is for him to get a stylish hat and turn the sky into an eternal darkness. Also, Aaravos was really that big in his natural mortal form...which made S5's horrifying reveal of what he said make a lot of sense.

A major theme of S6 and the show is how revenge won't get you anywhere but further metaphorically drown yourself. Another major theme is love (platonically and romantically), whether familial, platonic, or romantic.

S6 really is an amazing return to form, and it felt like the quality of the first three seasons was consistent. I cannot wait for the final season of this saga. I did hear about them wanting to make three more books and I wonder how they can go from here...but I trust them to do right based on S6.

[msunitedstatesjames]

I just finished up most of Emmrich's companion quests and oh my god that was amazing. I chose the human ending, and I loved it. Once again, my favorite string of scenes yet in the game.

First of all, Emmrich's voice actor did amazing. Like, wow. We've heard Emmrich be the self assured academic, we've heard him be anxious, we've even heard him be angry, but we got whole new shades of Emmrich in the final Hezenkoss confrontation and Lich choice scenes. We got outrage, we got desperation, we got grief and pain. When Emmrich first tries to stop the lantern and realizes it could kill him, when he begs Manfred to come back as he goes after the lantern, when he begs him to come back again when he searches for his spirit, when he admits that he wouldn't trade Lichdom for having Manfred back, it's all so movingly acted. And you can't forget the "Magic, like you" joy. It can be easy for video games to make you feel excited or interested or generally just content, but feeling joy and grief are harder, and this string of quests pulled it off beautifully, largely because of the voice acting and also the character writing.

I found Emmrich's animation to be really good in these scenes as well. He does a lot of dramatic gesturing, and for whatever reason it just really worked for me. The way he gestures when pleading with Hezenkoss and admitting she was right was great. The hug when Manfred was back was adorable. The look on his face when he realizes he's talking about Manfred like a child was precious. But the one that really got me was when Manfred "dies," and Emmrich puts his hands over his face with that look of utter disbelief and horror. Seeing Emmrich look like that, when he's always so put together, really hits hard.

The little romance moments were great, too. Having Hezenkoss be so pissed off that Emmrich has a lover is gratifying. Rook getting called his "paramour" was amusing. Also, I have to give Hezenkoss some props for at least admitting she would have entombed Rook and Emmrich together when she killed them. That's really a pretty decent thing for a villain to promise, like, she didn't have to do that. It was nice to be able to stand up for Emmrich, too. And that you got to help him make his big decision. But of course the sprinkle on top of this delightful cake was getting to surprise Emmrich into realizing that you're parenting together. How many other Dragon Age couples get to parent together? Only a few that I can think of.

Emmrich's character growth was stunning too. He has to acknowledge that, at least in one way, Hezenkoss was better than him. He admits that he misses her friendship. He has to face down his greatest fear, death, more than once, and while doing so choose the lives of others above his own in a very real way. First he chooses to risk himself to save Hezenkoss's enemies, and Rook, and Nevarra City. Then, he literally chooses eventual death in order to save Manfred. He also realizes that he was stronger than he believed himself to be, both in magic and in courage. And in the end he can admit that though he has regrets, he knows he made the right choice. I haven't played or watched the other ending, but it feels right somehow for Emmrich to embrace his deep compassion this way.

As for Hezenkoss, there's a certain poetic justice to her being ended by a ragtag team of Emmrich's "ridiculous skeleton," Emmrich's lover, spirits she personally tormented, and her former friend turned foil, Emmrich the death fearing necromancer. I still love her as a whacky villain. Who knows what evils her escaped undead hand is getting up to now?

If I haven't blabbed enough about how amazing these quests were, they were also just the most exhilarating in the game for me so far. I think all of the reasons listed above just combined really well together to make this quest super suspenseful. I really cared about Emmrich as a character, so I really cared about his fate. Even though you logically knew he wouldn't die in this quest, it still felt very high stakes. There was exciting music, dozens of lives at stake including Emmrich and Manfred, and as I've mentioned before, top tier voice acting. I was gasping and kicking my feet in excitement at all the right moments. It strings you right along from suspense, to excitement, to dread, to shock, to triumph, to grief, to joy, to a pleasant contentment.

I couldn't stop playing this string of quests, which was extremely unfortunate for Bellara because right before this she told Rook they needed to go after her brother immediately, and then I instead forced her to tag along and help Rook defeat her boyfriend's rival.

Anyway, I'm still reeling from the excitement of it all. I hope the end of this game is really good because it's gonna be hard to live up to this bunch of quests.

(Sidenote: How horrified would the Southern Templars be to find out an extremely powerful death mage, his Spelblade Tevinter mage girlfriend, and their reanimated skeleton son (inhabited by a spirit of curiosity and gifted with death magic) are running around Thedas fighting gods?)

[jujus-bizarre-blog]

SOC and CK allegories for the queer characters (and other thoughts)

I was going to make a separate blog to yell about books but I decided to do it here.

I AM NOT DONE CROOKED KINGDOM AT THE TIME OF WRITING THIS SO EVERYTHING I SAY IS HAVING ONLY READ HALF THE BOOK SO FAR.

The Grishaverse doesn't seem to have any form of homophobia, but SOC and CK are chalk fulllllllll of what I can only see as plots that mimic queer experiences for the queer characters in the main group.

We have four queer characters (that I know of at the moment): Jesper, Wylan, Nina, Kuwei.

So let's start with the obvious, three of the four are Grisha. Obviously not all Grisha are queer, but all the Grisha in the party are. This gives them an automatic plotline of "hide who you are".

It could be said that since Nina is Ravkan she wasn't raised that way, and no, she wasn't. However since leaving Ravka she has been forced to hide for her safety, and not only that but she is frequently told she's "too much" which sounds a lot to me like what some people say about queer people when they think queer people should be less queer. Also Matthias is all about being "traditional" and "proper" and Nina's whole thing is that she is neither. Traditional and proper sound a lottttt like some people's arguments to be homophobic.

Jesper's I think is rather obvious. His father has a clear concern for his son being Grisha since it can put your life at risk. In Jesper's argument with his dad he goes off and asks his dad why did he never let him go to Ravka where he could be himself and learn about himself and his powers. Oh not to mention the fact that him and his dad talk around him being Grisha like it's some sort of virus that can be caught by simply speaking the word.

Kuwei's took a second to hit me but when it did I was like "ah yep, makes sense" and this is probably because it took me a hot second to realize Kuwei was queer. Yeah, apparently him being jealous that Jesper only looked at Wylan a certain way didn't tip me off... ANYWAY THOUGH. Kuwei is also told to hide who he is, but his dad goes the extra length of literally making a drug to help him hide himself. Is it giving anyone else Dorian's dad from Dragon Age vibes??? Blood magic for the gay son???

FINALLY, I will talk about my baby, the character I love more than anything else. Wylan. Here's the thing about Wylan, while I was reading SOC I wasn't sure if homophobia existed in this world yet and I was half convinced that his dad disowned him because gay. While his dad obviously didn't do that, I still think at the end of the day it portrays an experience that is very similar. Wylan is shamed, hidden, and ultimately his dad tries to have him killed, all because he can't read. His dad loathes him over such a stupid reason, especially since Wylan is absolutely brilliant at tons of stuff and the cutest lil guy. But I think it's that hatred of his son over something so trivial that really lends itself to being about something else entirely, Wylan being queer.

All four of our queer characters in the main group have different plots, but ultimately they all circle around the idea of hiding who you are and being ashamed of who you are. That sounds like a very common queer experience if you ask me.

I don't know if this was intentional or just a huge coincidence. As a writer myself I am all too aware of how easily accidental metaphors and symbols can happen. But I think about it a lot as I'm reading so I wanted to shout about it either way. I also have no clue if this is a common idea or not, I just know when I pointed it out to my friends who had read the books prior, one of who loves and reads them yearly, they both kinda went "oh damn, you right," but didn't see it before I mentioned it.

Anyway, if I missed things (or you wanna yell at me about how wrong I am, which is usually the more likely option) I'd love to know thoughts :)

AND BONUS THOUGHTS

This one is super obvious but I just wanna say it. Jesper is ADHD and no one will change my mind in the history of ever. This man cannot sit still, has been described as having limitless energy, and he seeks constant immediate gratification in the form of gambling and adrenalin rushes. COME ON MAN. I know I know, there's a lore reason, something something Grisha not using magic blah blah. No. No. He is ADHD and you cannot tell me otherwise. And I love him dearly.

Also, not a theory or anything but, y'all, I love Wylan so much. I just wanna give him a hug and a lollipop and tell him it's okay. He's so cute.

[blacklegsanjiii]

im kind of imagining for revolutionary!sanji that maybe theres a moment in alabasta where luffy and ace say something that sabo always used to say, maybe an inside joke, and everyone is confused but sanji kind of unintentionally mutters "youre just like sabo" and their heads snap towards him. cue an intense and furious interrogation that sanji is trying to evade bc he thinks sabo maybe pissed them off during a mission and they have no clue how the fuck sanji knows their dead brother's name

maybe not canon to your au but a fixit alternative?

Oh my gosh..... Ace and Luffy pester Sanji until they find out who Sabo is.

Sanji who is just watching these two feral adults, one of which lit his cigarette with his fruit. He's mentioned offhandedly having a brother he doesn't get to see often. Probably only once like when he talks about being from the North Blue. Sanji can't talk about a lot of stuff just because of how high ranking he is the Revolutionary Army.

So he's watching them and all the dumb shit they're doing and is just like "you're both just like Sabo" under his breath and they whip around to look at him. He doesn't know Sabo is their dead brother and they didn't know another Sabo could exist in the world. When Luffy and Ace ask about him Sanji doesn't really answer.

Can't risk whatever Sabo is doing right now. They keep pestering him throughout Alabasta. After a while Sanji is like "he's my brother! Okay! I don't get to see him a lot!" And then Luffy rubbers his way into Sanji's pockets and finds a photo of him and Sabo in their early teens, Sabo who has a massive scar covering one of his eyes and going into his hairline. Ace and Luffy are just staring at it and crying because that's their brother and everyone is confused and Nami and Zoro are hitting Sanji because he didn't tell them!

"It's not my fault Sabo never mentioned them! And it's not Sabo's either because he doesn't have his memory from before showing up!" Sanji defends himself and Sabo and everyone is like "he's at Baratie?" And Sanji shrugs and says he doesn't know where Sabo is right now and he probably won't for a while. It's just how it is.

ALTERNATE MARINEFORD BELOW

Fuck it if this happens Sanji is like "Hey, we need to get to Marineford right now." To Sabo and Sabo is like "SWEET WE'RE FUCKING UP AN EXECUTION AND DRAGON DOESNT KNOW!"

Sanji and Sabo make it and Sanji is dressed in his Revolutionary best. Ace and Luffy are looking at these blond dumbass revolutionaries. And once Ace is free and Sanji and Sabo send them to the White Beard fleet Sanji and Sabo are grinning at these top Government officials like "haha dragon is going to be pissed" only for Ivankov to have them scruffed and hauled off too.

"I would expect better from our chief of staff and head of espionage! Honestly, what do these two have do with you two?" Ivankov demands as they gesture between the four of them and Sanji is like "well he's my Captain, he's my Captains brother, and they think the know Sabo from before times."

Ivankov is looking between them as Ace is reeling because he almost died, his pops did die, Luffy saved him, his other dead brother is alive and the cook is a revolutionary and so is his dead brother and they are high ranking? What the fuck? Also the before times?

And Ivankov is just leaning over them like "explain yourselves, we raised you better than this!" As Sabo and Sanji point out they were raised soldiers and Sabo doesn't remember anything before showing up on Baltigo when he woke up to Sanji staring at him. Koala grabs Sabo's pipe and nails both of the blonds with it and screams obscenities that belong in the void century.

Sabo is blinking at Sanji as blood is running down their faces then at Ace and Luffy. "If that's all it took to bring your memories back I'm going to hit you again." Koala threatens and Sabo fucking runs from her making her give chase and Ivankov is muttering to themself as Koala chases Sabo around the ship. And seeing an opportunity to make it worse Sanji is like "Koala, look at this!" As he lights his legs on fire.

Sabo throws Sanji into the ocean and Koala hits him with the pipe like a baseball sending Sabo flying after him. Ivankov can't believe this is head of espionage and the chief of staff. Ace and Luffy are crying their brother is alive but also very confused at the pipe weilding woman who just brained both Sanji and Sabo. She's kind of scary.

[felixcloud6288]

Dungeon Meshi Chapter 28

It's the lesbian chapter.

I feel like there isn't much to say about the bath scene. I'm impressed that it doesn't come across as fanservicey despite it being two women naked in a bath with lots of intimate touching.

I do want to mention the level of detail with how Kui draws hands though.

Fingernails are one of those things an artists could easily get away with not drawing and no one would notice. This was actually the first time I even realized that Kui has been drawing fingernails since the beginning.

I checked a few chapters and found that orcs also have fingernails. I couldn't find a good chapter where I could check if Kuro the Kobold has them. I also checked the mermaids from chapter 15 but didn't see any good shot that shows if they have fingernails or not.

Marcille still has that soap she made in chapter 14.

If the Golden Kingdom is made of elf and dwarf technology, that might mean they either lived in general harmony 1,000 years ago or the Golden Kingdom was a trade center between them and was able to benefit from both races' advancements. Maybe the war that broke out between them was because of some fallout when the kingdom was turned into a dungeon.

I want to know more about that bank token thing. Is it a form of IOU or maybe the equivalent of a PIN number? Maybe the whole idea is adventurers always risk losing anything they bring into the dungeon so the bank will keep their money safe and issue the tokens so you can redeem the money later.

Since the token is based on the owner's fingerprint, it would be difficult to steal someone's token and then claim to be the original owner. The bank likely confirms ownership by pattern matching the token fragments with the fingerprint.

Laios and Chilchuck are talking profits and they're hitting the logistic issue of how big the dragon pieces are. Not sure why Laios said they can't use a return spell. They have Falin. She can definitely cast a return spell. That's how the whole story started.

A tiny bit of event sequences seemed to slip away while Marcille was talking about her interest in studying forbidden magic. Laios gave Falin his spare shirt and I think she ran off to get dressed during that scene. She probably also got some under garments from Marcille too.

Falin was the only one who saw Senshi head toward the dragon. It wouldn't make sense if he walked by while the others were talking and Falin was the only one who noticed. I think she saw Senshi as she was heading back to the others.

Marcille was all "What's a dark elf anyway!?" so now I need to know if dark elf is a subclassification, subculture, or a derogatory term.

Senshi flash denied!

We got assurance at the start of the chapter that Falin doesn't have any physical abnormalities from the resurrection, but the chapter is not being shy about how Falin is far more powerful after resurrecting. I'd also like to point out that Falin's eyes are wide open most of the time. All the flashbacks and chapter 1 depict her with her eyes always closed no matter what. So she definitely came back at least slightly different. And she still has a scar from years ago so it's not that Marcille healed any long-term injuries.

Senshi seriously turned the dragon corpse into a pizza oven. And Chilchuck is so mad that Senshi is cooking high-value monster parts AGAIN.

Laios and Marcille are still a bit iffy on the whole "eating a monster that ate your friend" thing. Falin is fine with it though. She's not concerning herself at all with whether or not this counts as auto-cannibalism or not.

Now if you'll excuse me, that panel of Falin eating pizza is making me really hungry for one.

Okay I'm back. The pizza wasn't all that good.

I love how giddy Falin is when she finds out the party has been eating monsters. She is just Laios if he was a woman. And Marcille is well aware of it. I wonder when Marcille realized Falin would want to eat monsters if she was offered the chance.

And she shares Laios's lack of concern for the appearance of monsters when eating them. I wonder if she would have gotten as angry as Laios did when Chilchuck didn't let him cook the fishmen.

Hold on. Falin definitely came back wrong. Kensuke is reacting exactly like when they fought the dragon.

I gave a loud "NO!" when I read this panel.

The fifth floor has some strange design layout. It's a castle town but some aspects make no sense at all. In chapter 23, there was that underpass that only a half-foot could walk under and there was a door right above it.

Along with what the party noticed about the house they're staying in, there's also a door where the entire panel is upside down.

Maybe this is a side-effect of the Magician trying to preserve such a large space for so long. It's not like he knows every nook and cranny of town and he's personally repairing every bit of damage that happens. There's probably some automated process to fixing damage and it doesn't check if the repairs make practical sense.

Was Falin the only one who could see that child? And if so, was it because of her priest magic or because of whatever is going on with her?

They still have their frog suits!

This was such a heartwarming chapter. After so much time and struggle, the party managed to save Falin and it was all worth it. Now they can leave the dungeon and nothing bad will happen.

Nope! Nothing bad will happen.

NOTHING. BAD. WILL. HAPPEN.

back

[moongothic]

On the train of your last ask, what are your thoughts on dragons sexuality?

Personally I think he’s Demi something (more attracted to personality than looks or gender)

Honestly because we don't know that much about the guy it's kind of hard for me to form an opinion, and if Crocodad Real then we're going to find out his orientation eventually (since we gotta find out if that was a contributing factor to the Dragodile Divorce (assuming they're divorced)) so I'm kind of okay with not forming any headcanons, since the headcanon could get thrown out the window

If anything, what interests me is how Dragon's orientation could impact the story-- like when I've discussed the Dragodile Divorce I have mainly focused on speculating how Crocodile would've felt about it, but how Dragon felt about that is interesting too

Because if he's straight then yeah that probably contributed to The Divorce, but how did Dragon feel about it? Learning that the love of his life is now happier than ever before after transitioning and being happy for him, while also losing the version of Crocodile that he fallen in love to begin with? No longer feeling thet draw to him because of the thing that has brought him so much joy and comfort? Knowing that even if they did take down the WG the family Dragon had hoped to have would never come to be, because their relationship would now end? And that it would be on some level his fault, because he's not attracted to Crocodile anymore?

Like even if Dragon took things well and the divorce happened "on good terms", it would've been sad for Dragon too.

But then there's a slightly juicier option, because what if Dragon was bi, but the Divorce happened under unpleasant circumstances (be it Dragon lashing out or things getting violent because he couldn't recognize Crocodile) and he didn't figure it out until it was too late?

Because you'd still have Dragon going through some if not all of those previously mentioned feelings, of having to come to terms with the version of his significant other whom he had fallen in love with no longer existed, the family had pictured in his mind would never become a thing, that those things were be kind of his fault and that he had hurt Crocodile deeply in the process. But then he'd be looking at some news article of Crocodile's most recent heroic stunt, seeing his handsome face with that usual, unbothered expression, and realizing he still loved him? That he still wanted to be with him, wished they were together, even now that Crocodile was a far more handsome man than he was? And then the realization that he's bi hitting him like a fucking truck But it's too late. The divorce already happened. He already hurt Crocodile too deeply. Knowing Croc, he had probably already moved on. There was no fixing it, the relationship was over. At least for now, trying to go see Croc could be dangerous due to the WG and not wanting to risk the WG finding out about them and The Kid and Croc would probably be furious if Dragon even risked that at this point, after what he had done. Oh, and then Crocodile killed thousands of innocent people attempting to usurp a country by manufacturing a civil war. Something Dragon can't forgive. (Not to mention, hearing he had been taken down by their own son... Oof)

But what if despite all that, and not knowing the full circumstances behind what had happened (like the fact that Crocodile didn't know who the hell Luffy was), Dragon still loved Crocodile? What then?

[pinkrangermemes]

RED SHOES & THE SEVEN DWARFS

please watch this movie, it's delightful. feel free to change pronouns and such when needed

"A magical land of princes and princesses, witches and monsters."

"Accidents and strange events happen all the time."

"We thought she was a witch. Sooo... we attacked her, but we were wrong."

"Everything changed the day we slayed a dragon and saved a princess."

"She wasn't a witch. She was a princess. The fairy princess!"

"How were we supposed to know!"

"So, anyway, she wanted to teach us a lesson, so she placed a curse on us, and this was a nasty one."

"And the only way to break the curse is to get a kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? With THIS face!"

"Not again! How long must I wait!"

"Oh, pull yourself together."

"Huh. That wasn't there before."

"What is she up to now?"

"I can't believe my beloved daughter, ____, has turned 18."

"They said she was a witch, but she was too beautiful to be a witch."

"People around the castle have been disappearing, one by one."

"I should send _____ away to a safer place."

"Apples. The most suspicious of fruits."

"But they don't look dangerous."

"Green is like an ogre."

"Quit your complaining, _____!"

"I'm figuring out how to take this curse and kick it where the sun don't shine!"

"What was that, some kind of bird?"

"Magic mirror, full of wisdom, who's the fairest in the kingdom?"

"Inside note, wisdom and kingdom don't really rhyme."

"Cut the sass, and tell me her name!"

"Magic is just my first name. It's short for Magichard, like Richard."

"What can you do then?"

"Perhaps you should recruit another. Someone who stands to gain from your success."

"Let's not jump to conclusions."

"Yes, it could be a witch, but... Yeah, it's a witch."

"Wands where I can see'em, witch!"

"Fraulein! I baked you some revenge!"

"I have six roommates, but my name is on the lease."

"Wow. I look so... different."

"Oh, my gosh! What happened to me?"

"Is that... really what I look like? In the mirror, you see the same thing?"

"Obviously. I mean, I am a princess."

"Nah, that _____ isn't your type. You seem more like a _____ fan to me."

"Honestly, none of them are really my type."

"How can I assist you, my fair lady?"

"I need to find my father, and I know _____ can help."

"Leave it me. I'll find your father within the month."

"I already found your father like two weeks ago!"

"I just need a few days to get him across state lines."

"No one's offered to help me in such a long time..."

"I think I hit her too hard..."

"Who is coming to my birthday party?"

"If she's not gonna sleep, she can come to a party!"

"I DEMAND glorious guests!"

"I couldn't be anymore unpopular!"

"Finally! Someone talking sense!"

"Fear not, loyal hag!"

"I, Prince _____, shall find this fugitive and make her pay for her crimes--by making her attend my birthday party!"

"No! Whatever it is, I haven't seen it! Now, please, go away!"

"Hate to zap you, _____, but I need to impress a beautiful woman."

"_____, stop putting yourself in danger!"

"I see that light at the end of the funnel. Time for me to kick butt in heaven. I had a good run. Hashtag blessed."

"Seriously _____, you need to find a better way to hit on girls."

"Stand back. I may have to risk my life again."

"Where have you been? Something awful could've happened to _____ if I hadn't shown up!"

"You shouldn't go into the forest by yourself. It's a nightmarish landscape fit for only the finest warriors, like myself... and squirrels."

"Oh, I am so sorry. That was... much slappier than I intended it to be."

"To break this curse, we've got to work as a tightly knit team. Which means you do everything I say."

"You took your shot, you got slapped."

"A half baked plan is better than none!"

"It says: do not attempt to remove by force."

"I like a girl who can keep things classified."

"Who said you could leave your post?"

"I'm just walking the bunny."

"There's no need to push me into a corner. This is super scary."

"Are you a criminal!?"

"Just let me know what you want. Anytime. For the rest of your life."

"I don't want your jewels, only your good intentions."

"Ugh, it's that loser, Prince _____."

"Don't troll me, troll."

"Can we get this over with? They're just dwarves!"

"Gentleman, he surrenders."

"I! Shall! Return! On Tuesday. No, wait, let me check my clandarrrr.... Thursday."

"You always talk about what someone looks like."

"I think I can see the real you, and I like you. Just as you are."

"You're a gift. A gift that will transform me into someone amazing, just like you're amazing."

"Nope! Stand back! I got this! One... Two... Okay, yeah, I need help."

"This kingdom has a serious monster problem!"

"What do they want besides smashing us!"

"Take a look, _____! I have triumphantly saved the day!"

"You're going after _____ yourself?"

"By the time I figured out _____ was a witch, _____ had already disappeared."

"If I had given up their magic, you wouldn't have helped me find my father, would you?"

"I'm talking about the kind of spell you never want to break."

"I just wonder what I would have done if I'd seen the real _____."

"Seriously? It's still all about appearances for you?"

"Those are bears."

"If you think you've humiliated, embarrassed, and otherwise frustrated me... you're right."

"Sweet lord, please end this."

"You've torn apart my family, and you will not get away with it, _____!"

"What's going to happen to her?"

"It's a good day to break a curse."

"You're the most beautiful woman in the world, whether my eyes are open or closed."

[wandringaesthetic]

Top 5 JRPGs

So in order to answer this question I had to have a few existential crises. First: what is a JRPG (we just don't know)? I'm going with the more purist answer here since we're narrowing it down to 5. So no action RPGs or tactical RPGs. Second: do I just put down my personal favorites here? because that's going to be 4 Final Fantasy games and idk Suikoden II, probably, and that's not very interesting. I don't really believe in objective quality, but at the moment I find it interesting to take a stab at it or at least name things I think are genuinely very good and polished and have relatively universal appeal. In the end, ugh, whatever, here's a list:

Final Fantasy VII - this is the one that made me fall in love with the genre. I don't have much to say about it that hasn't already been said. I will say, while I mostly like Remake/Rebirth there's something about the original they're never going to catch, and there's a lot to be said about being (relatively) more succinct and focused and leaving some things to the imagination.

Dragon Quest V - This is as good as the UrJRPG series gets. Charming and funny and bright and occasionally tragic. It's about growing up and family and perseverance. It did the monster recruitment thing before Pokemon. I played the Super Famicom version via fan translation and emulation, so I don't know if the remake(s?) of this have quite the same charm. It's helpful for older games to look their age so you can put them in the context of their time, I think. I feel like relatively few people in the west have played this one, which is a shame because it's the missing piece in the influences of Lufia, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, possibly even Pokemon. Really fun, really solid game that was genuinely touching and made me feel childlike wonder.

Suikoden II - I first played this one when I was in college and Going Through It, and I've been meaning to replay it ever since. So, my memories are a little muddled but I'm going to do my best. Two boys take diverging paths to the same end. A war story that takes on a human scale by developing a huge cast of characters and by having your base grow around you. It takes one of the most interesting middle chapter twists I can think of in a video game. It's one of the best looking and sounding sprite based games to exist. It has an iron chef cooking mini game.

Shadow Hearts Covenant - balances between horror and quirkiness. Atypical setting (in the shadows of IRL World War I). Atypical protagonist with many demons, literal and metaphorical. Really good gameplay. Takes the FFX conditional turn based thing, where you can see the turn order and where some skills alter it, and runs with it. Timed hits, but it's customizable so you can make the system more or less forgiving and balance risk/reward with precise inputs versus guaranteed, but lower, accuracy. Adds up to a really fun game. Vibes are immaculate. Cast is great. But I cannot speak to how good the plot is because I don't remember most of it. It and the rest of the series have never been ported or remade and likely never will be. Keep circulating the tapes.

Chrono Trigger - I mean if you're only going to play one JRPG this is the one. The love child of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, with the bright, fun adventure qualities of DQ and the scifi/fantasy fusion and existential angst of FF. Did gameplay stuff it took other games decades to do and did it better. One of the best looking SNES games. The music makes me feel feelings I can't name. I paradoxically think it's overrated even though I'm putting it on the list, because it's not a personal favorite and I don't think anything in the world lives up to the hype around this game. It is very good, however, and a distillation of the genre.

[atopvisenyashill]

Say Otto Hightower decides not to be an oath breaking murderous cunt at the small council and declares that the king should be buried and the crown set aside until a Great Council to be called. He offers the Blacks that Dragonstone/Driftmark deal if they agree to a peace summit. Do the Blacks take it?

wait first of all - Say Otto Hightower decides not to be an oath breaking murderous cunt - this is how you grab my attention, with Otto slander aljfklajsf

SECOND OF ALL - no and they shouldn't lmao. It's a shitty ass deal and there's no reason Rhaenyra should take it. For one thing, there's no guarantee something bad doesn't happen to Aegon and Viserys at the capital, even if she can convince Daemon of that (and she can't). For another, there's also no guarantee something shady doesn't happen to Jace, Luke, and Joff as well, and not just by the Targtowers but by the Velaryons - we already know Vaemond's line Does Not Fuck With Her in either canon, and Corlys, while he does seem to genuinely love and adore Jace and Luke, doesn't seem to have that close relationship with Joffrey, and ultimately Corlys has a close relationship with the older boys because it gets his blood (eventually) on the Iron Throne and gives him the ability to continue politicking from the shadows. Without that, it's like...I'm not saying he'd be like "actually they're bastards and I'm disowning them" but he's taking a massive hit here for absolutely no gain, and Rhaenyra knows it. And lastly....what lands is she being given here, really? So she gets to be a Lady - not even Lady Paramount - of two small, shitty islands? She's effectively exiled from the rest of Westeros for the rest of her life? She doesn't even get the guarantee that Jace and Luke's kids will get the chance to claim a dragon one day? No, absolutely not, she shouldn't take the deal because it's deeply unserious and requires Rhaenyra to take all of the risk while Otto gets all of the reward.

What she should do if Otto makes this offer is say "first of all, eat my entire asshole for rejecting my helaena/jacaerys match up and then pulling this gc stunt like you're being so magnamous here, i WILL be telling everyone you rejected the marriage proposal and you can suck shit forever. second of all, if i do happen to lose, you do NOT get my kids, kiss my ass, but you WILL give me my own area to be Lady Paramount over to pass to my children and Jaehaerys will NOT marry Jaehaera, he'll marry Jace and Baela's daughter, and Jaehaera will NOT marry Maelor either, she will eventually marry Jace and Baela's son." If he doesn't even try to negotiate, just says "it's dragonstone/driftmark or bust" then he's completely unserious. I'd still hold a great council, but I'd make it clear Otto isn't offering to actually guarantee peace or safety for Rhaenyra's children, and I'd also make plans to get the fuck out of dodge at the first opportunity if it looks like it's going Aegon's way because to be honest, even with a guarantee of "you'll be safe i promise" if Otto isn't actively losing something just like Rhaenyra is, she and her kids are never going to be safe in Westeros while Aegon is on that throne. The issue here is that neither side is willing to like, lose anything at all even a little. I think show Rhaenyra would be a bit more willing to bend here, and show Alicent might bend as well, so there's a chance but...man Viserys really dies at the most inconvenient time lmao.

[modern-inheritance]

Human Rider Changes

Brom wasn't altered the way Eragon was, but in MIC I'm gonna say even the human Riders were altered by the bond, beyond the slightly more elfish appearance and pointed ears.

Over time Humans start getting the more pointed tooth shape that unaltered elves are born with. It takes FAR longer, but they also start to grow a very thin version of the controllable tapetum lucidum, but most can't use it the way elves can at will.

Human Riders also begin to get faster reflexes, larger energy stores, slightly higher than normal strength and endurance for their physiques, increased night vision in general, and I really really want to say longer periods of high neuroplasticity (ease of learning, adaptations, etc) going further into adulthood (though neuroplasticity IS seen in adults, it's not to the extent seen in childhood, but don't quote me on that I haven't read up on it very much lately) but I don't have a reason for that really. I feel like elves naturally keep a fairly high level of neuroplasticity, maybe some effect of dragons ancestral memories (god damn i wanna explore that too and for some reason I think it would lead me to papers and fish and birds and I'm....I'm not up for that just yet).

Magic use can speed up these changes, though it's still a very gradual process. One of the risk factors, however, is that while their strength is not terribly increased, there's still a posibility that their strength can be dangerous to them. Magic use is typically restricted to practice and training while being taught by masters so that explosive use of magic won't lead to a far faster increase in strength, before the bones have adapted to it.

Elves, when they have access to it, incorporate a leafy green called Tinleaf into their diets, along with a variety of (currently unnamed, let me cook) fruits and other vegge that grow in Du Weldenvarden and were brought to the Rider's island. Tinleaf and these other foods are high in dietary titanium, nickel chloride/sulfate, and zirconium silicate, all used in their bone structure which incoperates alloys that allow them to be so resistant to their strength without shattering bones by walking and hitting things. When out of the forest/not around sources of these food/plants, elves have supplements they can take if without natural sources for too long.

wait what was i talking about

OH.

These changes are why Arya is still a bit baffled/confused when she's with the Varden and learning of all these things these humans can't do/don't have going on with their bodies. Brom's changes were still early stage, but he still had some, and she just kinda assumed they were all like that. She was practically a kid at that point, confused why the books she read didn't mention any of that stuff, and then Caleb, Sam, Simon and the rest are having to explain a LOT.

I also found it both jarring and a nice reminder when reading Murtagh (shhhh look okay I just want the fancy cover one and then I'll finish it the ADHD is not good with these things I can't just sit and read anymore it's painful and I don't know why. You know what, send me a hurricane, knock my power out for a week, and I'll finish it before the deluxe release.) that Eragon is NOT the norm for human Riders. He is not human anymore. He is more elf. His strength and energy stores are FAR beyond what human Riders were capable of, unless i just haven't reached some plot twist yet.

I would say that it made the Forsworn make so much more sense, but a VAST majority of the Forsworn we know were elves. Human Riders could have had so much resentment towards their elven counterparts, even with their partners by their side and all the gifts the bonding gave them, it could have been almost crushing to see what elf Riders could do even without formal training.

I wanted/want to put Murtagh on somewhat more even footing after the war in MIC. Without Galbatorix's spells, he's still far more human than Eragon, but he's stronger than any other human man of his size, stature and physique, he's faster, he learns faster, and he can maintain and cast spells well beyond what a regular human mage can, even with training. With more Ancient Language under his belt, more time with Thorn, more practice, he would be (and is) well beyond anything any human could accomplish even with both training for decades and a wealth of natural talent.

Maybe at some point a more significant though still gradual increase in strength, speed, ect, all the elfy things, is introduced to the Rider Bond using the Word/the Name. Resentment from the non-elven students is something I worry about if other Rider species/races are left with nothing to put them at an equal level.

this got off the rails. whoops.

[perrin-aybaras-hammer]

Pre-writing the post thought: WHY DID I SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON THIS. Nobody caressssss. But i dumped my thoughts in a puddle on the floor and here they are, have a lick:

About to finish baby's first baldur's gate three playthrough and i have some thoughts, in no particular order.

1) it can't truly escape acute dungeons and dragons 5e disorder. (By which i mean, railroading narrative development behind a single die roll)

2) tumblr neglects the hilarious monsterfucker npcs.

3) there is something to be said about mindflayers, the matrix, and when portraying fascism and resistance in sci-fi/fantasy breaks down that i can't quite articulate yet.

4) everyone's favorite gameshow "is the tragic ending narratively interesting or is it just another way for me to mentally self-harm???"

5) orcs continue to rule.

6) i did not expect a speech in this game to hit QUITE so close to home.

7) kill eugenicists on sight

8) thinking about a character's connection to off-screen characters (family, friends, rivals that never appear) is more crucial to roleplaying than whatever the fuck a "bond" or a "flaw" is.

9) milf sweep

10) transfem orc sweep

11) let me 1v1 zariel i can take her

12) dnd 5e hates necromancers

13) why can't i find a hood or cloak until halfway through the FANTASY game

14) dnd undervalues the swagger of medieval infantry helmets (and other gear) from across the globe. Enough of this needlessly filagreed and over-designed bullshit. Kettle helmet sweep

15) look orpheus you're probably right that i should've let myself die to mend the sins of being unwittingly complicit in your awful imprisonment but i think i deserve a little credit for risking my ass to kill a devil and loot his house and then tell one of my strongest allies to go fuck himself all to save your sorry ass

16) i really do want to highlight that this game has a character LITERALLY call out another character as a monsterfucker (essentially calling them a chaser). Like literally actually. The levels of near-fourth wall break. But apparently we are all too busy blorbo-ifying a victim of abuse who then perpetrates further abuse before finally breaking the cycle of violence.

[dragonskxn]

"What I wouldn't give to have some jewels around my neck again, and a hoard of gold to sleep on..." The blonde woman lamented, fluffing up her curls with one hand while the other holds up a tarnished handheld looking glass.

"Once we find our paradise, you won't have to worry about material objects such as that, my love," her husband chuckled as he looked up from the journal in his lap. He tucked a strand of pale blue hair behind his ear, a habit he's formed since growing it out further.

"And here I thought that marrying a prince would have me set for life," She teased, full lips pursed in a mock pout.

"Floriana, you wound me — I've not a single coin to my name since I left. But I wouldn't have found the most priceless treasure in all the world had I not left my family's palace." Closing the journal, he stood up from his seat and walked over to his wife, taking the looking glass from her hands to instead entwine his fingers with her own. She was much taller than he, and it was like staring directly at the radiance of the sun. Bedazzling and blindingly beautiful.

"I know, Daichi, I know. I don't mean to remind you of your decision." Floriana's gaze softened as she looked down at her husband.

Dragons above, he was so handsome.

Her other draconic suitors who fought to be her consort as leader of the flock had scoffed at her choice — his draconic form had seemed so weak and pathetic compared to the others; a slender, feathered serpentine figure amongst the bulkier scaled beasts with maws so large they could swallow cattle whole. But she cared not about strength; Floriana was strong enough as is, her own draconic figure dwarfing her suitors', her muscles rippling under gilded scales, her teeth razor sharp, her talons deadly. Daichi was clever and charming, swift, and hard to hit in combat, slippery as an eel. And she had adored how he stammered and stuttered in her presence, all his court etiquette training unraveling at the sight of her.

They both adored each other, and now, as the leaders of the flock, they had other dragonskins to care for and lead to Paradise: a place so secluded that no human has ever touched it. A place lush with wildlife, with plenty of space to hunt and fly and raise their young.

"Jewels and gold don't matter as much as this flock of ours. It's...selfish of me to think about the old days. Remember when I told you those stories?" Floriana smirked. "How I would pretend to be a noblewoman and sneak into human parties to gain favors from all the gentlemen there?"

"Yes, yes, which is another reason why I fell for you. You were sly as a fox," Daichi grins up at her. "But, alas, we can't risk going near the humans anymore. For our flock's sake. And...for her sake."

The couple's gaze drifted over to the clearing where their flock had camped for the time being. Most, if not all, of the dragonskins there had maintained human form in case any human travelers came along. Some of the more elderly dragonskins remained as dragons, dozing in the afternoon sunlight while the younglings crawled over them, laughing and squealing.

A group of dragonskin children ran by, yelling and clapping as the leader rolled a hoop along the dirt, using a stick to drive it. Their dragon skins flapped behind them like capes, draped around their shoulders. One child in particular, around ten years of age, was straggling behind, getting distracted by various sights and sounds around her. As the group moved on, she stopped and looked down at the ground before scooping something up into her hands. She glanced back up and caught sight of Floriana and Daichi, a bright snaggletooth grin lighting up her face.

"Maman! Papa!!!" Annalise cried out, rushing over to the duo, her clumsy feet nearly tripping her up on the way over. "I had so much fun today! We listened to Elder Merrick's stories, and, and, and we picked wild berries, and I learned more 'rithma-tick like you asked, and look! I found these!" The blue-haired child opened up her palms, revealing a cluster of pill bugs curled up into protective little balls.

"How lovely, Annalise," Daichi smiled, squatting down to get a closer look. "Look at those! Pill bugs. Go release them in a leaf pile, okay? They enjoy eating them." Her father ruffled her hair affectionately and watched as she spun on her heel to return the insects to a proper location.

"She's already getting so big," Floriana mused. "Pretty soon she'll be growing in her flight feathers."

"I hope so." Daichi sighed wearily. "We'll need to show her how to fly before winter arrives. I feel like it's going to be a rough one this year."

"Don't worry, my love. We'll get through it. We always have." Floriana embraced her husband, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his lips. "We still have a ways to travel to Normandy, but once we settle in, we should be set for the colder weather."

As their daughter returned once more, Floriana scooped her up into her arms, carrying her into their tent for the evening. Tucking the little dragon into bed, the mother and father began to tell their beloved daughter her favorite story: of the dragonskin who flew up so high into the sky, she became a bright star that would always shine in the direction of every dragonskin's destiny, guiding them toward their fate.